Senate votes overwhelmingly to repeal Iraq war authorization

The Senate voted Wednesday to revoke the 20-year-old congressional authorization for the Iraq war, a symbolic stroke that could lead to the first repeal of a U.S. war authorization in a half-century.

The measure passed by a bipartisan vote of 66 to 30 and will move to the House, where it faces an uncertain future.

A convoy from the Marines 3rd Light Armoured Reconnaisance Battallion passes a burning oil well at the al-Ratka oilfield in southern Iraq 22 March 2003. Iraqi troops set fire to the oilfield as they fled from coalition forces advancing on Baghdad. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)

The bill would also rescind the 1991 authorization of American operations in the Gulf War. President Biden supports the legislation.

Its passage in the Senate comes as some lawmakers work to claw war powers from the White House after military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan killed more than 6,800 U.S. troops.

Sen. Kevin Cramer of Idaho, one of 18 Republicans who voted in support of the bill on Wednesday, said in a statement that each active military force authorization “should be related to today’s threats.”

“Repealing the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs rescinds the president’s blank check to bypass Congress,” Cramer said in the statement, using an acronym for the authorizations. “It’s time we take back our constitutional authority to declare war.”

In remarks on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said the authorizations had “outlived their use” and that “it’s time the laws on the books catch up.”

Schumer, a Democrat and the majority leader, declared that Americans “are tired of endless wars in the Middle East.”

“Every year we keep these AUMFs on the books is another chance for a future administration to abuse them,” Schumer said.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer speaks following a Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

But the Senate’s Republican minority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, voiced opposition to the measure, portraying it as reckless.

In a statement, McConnell charged that the Senate was wasting time on an “abstract, theoretical debate” as terrorist threats fester in Iraq, Iran and Syria.

“Our terrorist enemies aren’t sunsetting their war against us,” McConnell, who missed the vote as he recovers from a fall, said in the statement. “And when we deploy our servicemembers in harm’s way, we need to supply them with all the support and legal authorities that we can.”

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